Main e-vent for Shark's frustration

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, April 28, 1998

Starting with himself, no one was happy that Nolan produced only 14 goals during the regular season. All Nolan has left is the postseason to redeem himself.

Through three games of San Jose's Western Conference Stanley Cup quarterfinal series against Dallas, Nolan is doing just that.

The powerfully built right wing takes a team-high two goals and three points into Tuesday's Game 4 at San Jose Arena, where the Sharks hope to even their best-of-seven set with a victory. Nolan has targeted not only the Stars to release his pent-up frustrations, but their goaltender, Ed Belfour, in particular.

Nolan didn't think much of Belfour for bailing out on San Jose after spending just three months with the organization that traded for the free agent last winter. He said Belfour wasn't willing to be patient with a team that needed to work hard to shed its losing ways.

The Sharks may not be on equal footing with Dallas quite yet, but Nolan is making sure Belfour has no easy ride in this first-round series.

"He's such a competitor that when he's on top of his game he's tough to beat," Nolan said of Belfour. "It's a key for us (that) any time you can get into his head and start whispering in his ear, talk to him, give him a little bump or something, we have to do it. Anything like that where he gets thinking about you instead of what he's supposed to be doing is a benefit for us."

As soon as Nolan bagged a power-play goal 67 seconds after San Jose had tied Sunday's Game 2, he popped his head out of a pack of celebrating Sharks to shout something at Belfour.

"He's a different bird," Nolan said. "He does some things that are not usual. Everyone's different. It's just the way he is."

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Nolan and his teammates are truly trying to rattle Belfour, who has a reputation as a hot-headed competitor who doesn't shy away from confrontations. Once Sunday's game was out of reach, Belfour took it upon himself to belt Shawn Burr several times in the goalie's crease and kick Marcus Ragnarsson once officials thought peace was restored. Belfour earned a match penalty and ejection with 1:33 remaining, but escaped further disciplinary action when the league announced Tuesday he would not be suspended.

Belfour would like to make everyone think he can't be upset by taunting tactics or an abusive enemy crowd.

"I don't pay attention to what Owen Nolan does other than how he shoots the puck, and he shoots the puck hard, so you have to be ready for that," said Belfour, who was run over by Nolan in the third period of Game 2. "He's a hard-nosed player and he's a tough guy. He's definitely a competitor.

Nolan always brings emotion to the rink. He just has to make sure he uses it correctly. Coaches and teammates would much rather see the determined Nolan who scored power-play goals in Games 1 and 3 rather than the frustrated Nolan, who took two major penalties in the final 15:10 of Game 2.

"One of the reasons the franchise acquired Owen is for situations like this," assistant coach Paul Baxter said of Nolan. "He's a big, strong forward who is skilled. There's limited time and space in any playoff series. The intensity level goes up another 25 percent from the regular season. Space becomes tighter. Time becomes less. You need guys who are big and strong to play and win. And that's where he fits in."

"It's one thing to be pumped up but at the same time you have to be wise in how you use that energy," center Ron Sutter said. "He has been able to channel it in a positive way and use it to the team's advantage. Coming from a guy like Owen it's good to see because when he does that positively he makes our team that much better."

In the five NHL seasons he's avoided serious injury, Nolan never scored fewer than 29 goals. Nolan was 20 years old when he scored 42 goals in 75 games with Quebec in 1991-92. He was well on his way to showing why the Nordiques made him the No. 1 choice in the 1990 entry draft.

But his career took a sudden change in direction when Quebec moved to Colorado, and Nolan continued to head farther west just nine games into the Avalanche's first season in Denver. Traded for Sandis Ozolinsh on Oct. 26, 1995, Nolan has had to start anew in San Jose.

"It's a great feeling for me," Nolan said of his fast start in this series. "To get traded from Colorado, where I spent a lot of time helping rebuild that team there, to seeing things get turned around here. Anytime you get a chance to release energy like this is great, especially with these fans. You can't help get caught up in it." &lt;